Difference between revisions of "Cult of Personality"

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   | type              = Monotheistic
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   | type              = Polytheistic
 
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[[Baksism]] is an animistic religion in which any creature, or geographic feature such as a river or mountain might be considered to possess a divine soul. The central figure of this religion is the creator, [[Ana]], who gave birth to [[Otan]]. She then gave birth to seven children or Baksi, each with a specific role, to watch over the people and other creatures of the land.
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The [[Cult of Personality]] is not a single religion, but a compilation of many religions, some so obscure as to have little more than a single adherent. Most of the cultists, adherents, worshippers, warlocks, druids or others who follow in this faith tend to fixate on a single being, a form of lusus naturae, part human, part otherworldly creature.
  
==The Tenets of Baksism==
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The individual persona appearances can vary as wildly as any two creatures found in naturePersona may appear with the body of a horse, or with bat wings, or perhaps the tail of a lobsterTheir complexions may vary wildly from a human norm, and they may complete their looks with anything from hair to scales to feathers depending on the personality in question.
Adopting the Baksi religion is less a leap of faith and more of an entry into another worldTo the practitioners of this faith, all things animate and inanimate may possess a spirit or soul.  A skilled practitioner might speak to these souls to garner favour with themThey might convince an animal not to attack, a flower to bloom, or a river to calm its waters for a crossing.
 
  
Practitioners of [[Baksism]] will form themselves into a matriarchal hierarchyWith the exception of brief periods of transition, the supreme matriarch will carry the title of Queen Mother.  The current [[Queen Mother]] in [[Karazalik]] does not lead the country's government, however, the government makes few (if any) decisions without her blessing and approval.  This tacit arrangement has existed for as long as anyone remembers.
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The specific persona of the cultists' worship invariably has a strong personality and will confer favors upon their worshippers in exchange for certain tasks that must be performedThese tasks may be very regular, or few and far betweenNo two personas operate identically.
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The benefits can greatly exceed the costs in some of these relationships, while in others the costs can be very high, even fatal.
  
===The Oral Tradition===
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The motivations of each of the personas, as described by their worshippers and followers, vary as wildly as their looks.  While some might desire the acquisition of physical items and artefacts, others might desire the deaths of certain creatures or individualsOften these tasks have the telltale marks of vengeanceMost of the desired actions will leave a victim of some sort, be it theft, humiliation or even murder.
[[Baksism]] is not a bookish religion and therefore relies on the oral tradition to be remembered from generation to generationThis is enabled by a frailty in the masculine spiritWhile it is believed that women are born with perfect spirits, men come into this world with incomplete spirits.
 
  
Reincarnation is a tenet of [[Baksism]] and it is a difficult path for males.  To achieve enough completeness of the spirit for a male to be worthy of reincarnation, they must undergo extensive spiritual educationThis education is provided by the elders of any given settlement.  The elders may be either male, female or some combination.  Their constant and persistent recital of the oral tradition keeps both the teachers and students sharp on the tenets of [[Baksism]]In exchange for the gift of a complete spirit, the males will provide gifts of food and other goods to the elders over the course of their education.
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==Tenets of the [[Cult of Personality]] ==
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There is effectively only one tenet of the [[Cult of Personality]]; ObeyCultists who cease to obey their personas at any time may suffer immediate punishments ranging from a loss of the power conferred to them by the persona, to a brutal execution at the hands of other like cultistsAdherents who survive a 'divorce' with their persona, have never re-kindled the bond.  A break with the persona is permanent.  
  
==The Baksist Pantheon==
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Practitioners of [[Cult of Personality]] will rarely form themselves into a hierarchy or any sort of group.  The only exceptions occur when the persona needs some grand scheme accomplished that a single cultist could not possibly perform on their own.  Ordinarily, cultists will be reticent to talk about their choice of persona to others, partly for fear of ridicule and partly for fear of finding a competitive cultist.  It is not unknown for a cultist to kill another who worships the same persona in order to curry additional favor with that persona.
As in most religions, Baksism posses all four elements of the divine: the creator, the messenger, the intercessor and the destroyerBecause of the religion's animistic roots, however the role of messenger can be almost any living or non-living thing on the planet which could possibly be a vessel for a soul.
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==The [[Cult of Personality]] Pantheon==
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Much unlike other religions, there is no thread of unity binding the personal gods in the cult.  Each has its own motivations and its own personal interestsThese interests are sometimes reflected in the nature of their beastly parts, e.g. a forest creature interested in the forest and a sea creature interested in the sea.  
  
 
===The Creator===
 
===The Creator===
[[File:Ana.jpg|thumb|link=Ana|200px|Ana: The Mother of All]]
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No one creature in the [[Cult of Personality]] lays claim to the role of creatorPersona will shun the topic of the creation of the universe and shift back to their personal agendasTheir reticence on this topic is perhaps indicative that they believe in and know who the creator is, but none have ever been known to broach this subject with any success.
Eschewing philosophical and ontological arguments the practitioners of Baksism do not mince wordsTheir chief ontological argument is as follows: We exist; we were created; all things came to be, both physically and spiritually, by the act of birth; our birth mother is [[Ana]].
 
 
 
The form of the creator in the Baksist religion is similar to many in that the creatorIt is too large, to all-encompassing and too ineffable to receive direct communion from mere humans. In order for humans to communicate with the godhead, the creator gave birth to seven [[intercessor|intercessors]].  The role of the intercessor is to interact with the people and other spirits on the planet and where necessary, intercede in their affairs.
 
 
 
The role of the creator is as follows:
 
* [[Ana]]: The Mother of All
 
  
 
===The Intercessors===
 
===The Intercessors===
[[File:Jer.jpg|thumb|link=Jer|200px|Jer: Baksi of the Earth]]
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All personas are intercessors. Any and all of the personalities may intercede in the lives of their adherents, in a number of capacities from raising the dead to destroying enemies to parting of the sea.  The personalities rarely grant miracles as powerful as those of the greater gods, but warlocks and druids in particular have been known to summon enormous amounts of magical power from their personas.
Baksism features not one but seven intercessors.  The seven Baksi were born to fulfull important roles in human and spiritual affairs.  They take on elemental roles, air, water and earth, but they also take on roles involving war, agriculture and justice.  These are the major avenues of human endeavour.   
 
 
 
The role of the intercessor is fulfulled by the following gods and goddesses:
 
* [[Jer]]: Baksi of the Earth
 
* [[Adidi]]: Baksi of Thunder and Justice
 
* [[Teniz]]: Baksi of the Sea
 
* [[Nayza]]: Baksi of Iron and War
 
* [[Ferma]]: Baksi of Agriculture and Forests
 
* [[Awa]]: Baksi of Air
 
  
 
===The Messengers===
 
===The Messengers===
In the Baksist faith, nearly everything is in possession of what you would describe a spirit or soulYou might find yourself looking upon a mynah bird one day saying "Watch your back, watch your back." One might turn to discover they are being stalked by a pythonThis kind of helpful message is said to be a gift of [[Ana]].  They can rarely be explained.  They are never duplicated.
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Personas from the [[Cult of Personality]] message their cultists to the point of annoyanceIn some cases cultists have been known to go insane from the barrage of constant messaging, seen outwardly by others as the cultists receiving "messages in their heads".  There is no way for an adherent to silence the messages without completely breaking their pact with the persona.
  
 
===The Destroyer===
 
===The Destroyer===
[[File:Buzaki.jpg|thumb|link=Buzaki|200px|Buzaki: The Unpredictable]]
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As there is no creator, the [[Cult of Personality]] does not have a destroyer.  There are certain personas who will command acts of destruction, but this is rarely on a grand scaleMost acts of destruction seem to be more acts of personal vengeance on the part of the persona than any world-shaping grand scheme.
All things must end, and as in most religions, the Baksist faith has a destroyer.  Unlike the fire and brimstone variety, however the destroyer is another Baksi, [[Buzaki]], the Baksi of the Unpredictable.  [[Buzaki]] would be analogous perhaps to something like a combination of [[Norns]] and [[Loki]] in the [[Wodenism|Wodenist]] religion[[Buzaki]] representing the inevitability of an unpredictable fate.  He is rarely depicted as evil, but humans having interactions with [[Buzaki]] tend to have famously bad outcomes.
 
 
 
The role of the destroyer is fulfilled by:
 
* [[Buzaki]]: Baksi of the Unpredictable, the Trickster
 
  
 
==The Baksist Clergy==
 
==The Baksist Clergy==
 
+
There is no clergy in the [[Cult of Personality]].  From time to time an individual persona will collect a group of adherents into a "cult" to perform some larger task.  This cult will often have a leader and some hierarchical structure depending on its size.  Once the task is complete, the cult will often disband or commit mass suicide in the name of the personaAn unsuccessful mission will generally result in the cult's destruction by outside forces, leaving little trace of the cults after they are disbanded or destroyed.
===The Queen Mother===
 
[[File:QueenMother.jpg|thumb|link=Queen Mother|200px|The Queen Mother]]
 
The Queen Mother is the sole and undisputed leader of the [[Baksism]] faithAll decisions regarding the faith and ultimately the leaderhsop of the country of [[Karazalik]] fall under her dominion.
 
  
 
===Religious Observances===
 
===Religious Observances===

Revision as of 19:36, 25 April 2021

Cult of Personality
Cult of Personality
Type Polytheistic
Races All
Organized Never (with exceptions)
Founded 1 IM
Deities Æski

The Cult of Personality is not a single religion, but a compilation of many religions, some so obscure as to have little more than a single adherent. Most of the cultists, adherents, worshippers, warlocks, druids or others who follow in this faith tend to fixate on a single being, a form of lusus naturae, part human, part otherworldly creature.

The individual persona appearances can vary as wildly as any two creatures found in nature. Persona may appear with the body of a horse, or with bat wings, or perhaps the tail of a lobster. Their complexions may vary wildly from a human norm, and they may complete their looks with anything from hair to scales to feathers depending on the personality in question.

The specific persona of the cultists' worship invariably has a strong personality and will confer favors upon their worshippers in exchange for certain tasks that must be performed. These tasks may be very regular, or few and far between. No two personas operate identically. The benefits can greatly exceed the costs in some of these relationships, while in others the costs can be very high, even fatal.

The motivations of each of the personas, as described by their worshippers and followers, vary as wildly as their looks. While some might desire the acquisition of physical items and artefacts, others might desire the deaths of certain creatures or individuals. Often these tasks have the telltale marks of vengeance. Most of the desired actions will leave a victim of some sort, be it theft, humiliation or even murder.

Tenets of the Cult of Personality

There is effectively only one tenet of the Cult of Personality; Obey. Cultists who cease to obey their personas at any time may suffer immediate punishments ranging from a loss of the power conferred to them by the persona, to a brutal execution at the hands of other like cultists. Adherents who survive a 'divorce' with their persona, have never re-kindled the bond. A break with the persona is permanent.

Practitioners of Cult of Personality will rarely form themselves into a hierarchy or any sort of group. The only exceptions occur when the persona needs some grand scheme accomplished that a single cultist could not possibly perform on their own. Ordinarily, cultists will be reticent to talk about their choice of persona to others, partly for fear of ridicule and partly for fear of finding a competitive cultist. It is not unknown for a cultist to kill another who worships the same persona in order to curry additional favor with that persona.

The Cult of Personality Pantheon

Much unlike other religions, there is no thread of unity binding the personal gods in the cult. Each has its own motivations and its own personal interests. These interests are sometimes reflected in the nature of their beastly parts, e.g. a forest creature interested in the forest and a sea creature interested in the sea.

The Creator

No one creature in the Cult of Personality lays claim to the role of creator. Persona will shun the topic of the creation of the universe and shift back to their personal agendas. Their reticence on this topic is perhaps indicative that they believe in and know who the creator is, but none have ever been known to broach this subject with any success.

The Intercessors

All personas are intercessors. Any and all of the personalities may intercede in the lives of their adherents, in a number of capacities from raising the dead to destroying enemies to parting of the sea. The personalities rarely grant miracles as powerful as those of the greater gods, but warlocks and druids in particular have been known to summon enormous amounts of magical power from their personas.

The Messengers

Personas from the Cult of Personality message their cultists to the point of annoyance. In some cases cultists have been known to go insane from the barrage of constant messaging, seen outwardly by others as the cultists receiving "messages in their heads". There is no way for an adherent to silence the messages without completely breaking their pact with the persona.

The Destroyer

As there is no creator, the Cult of Personality does not have a destroyer. There are certain personas who will command acts of destruction, but this is rarely on a grand scale. Most acts of destruction seem to be more acts of personal vengeance on the part of the persona than any world-shaping grand scheme.

The Baksist Clergy

There is no clergy in the Cult of Personality. From time to time an individual persona will collect a group of adherents into a "cult" to perform some larger task. This cult will often have a leader and some hierarchical structure depending on its size. Once the task is complete, the cult will often disband or commit mass suicide in the name of the persona. An unsuccessful mission will generally result in the cult's destruction by outside forces, leaving little trace of the cults after they are disbanded or destroyed.

Religious Observances

Popular Folklore